In computer graphics, three-dimensional (3D) modeling involves generation of a representation of a 3D surface of an object. The representation may be referred to as a 3D object data model, and can be rendered or displayed as a two-dimensional image via 3D rendering or displayed as a three-dimensional image. 3D object data models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc. Various techniques exist for generating 3D object data models utilizing point clouds and geometric shapes, for examples.
Being a collection of data, 3D models can be created by hand, algorithmically, or based on data from objects that are scanned, for example. As an example, an artist may manually generate a 3D image of an object that can be used as the 3D model. As another example, a given object may be scanned from a number of different angles, and the scanned images can be combined to generate the 3D image of the object. As still another example, an image of an object may be used to generate a point cloud that can be algorithmically processed to generate the 3D image.
In some examples, a display of a 3D object data model may be accompanied by an interface for modifying or interacting with a rendering of the 3D object data model. A virtual view of the 3D object data model may be controlled by specifying a point of view for the 3D object data model. The point of view may be determined based on a camera position or orientation that is selected. In some instances, an orthographic projection or a perspective projection may be determined based on the camera position. In addition, lighting conditions may be selected to modify appearances of surfaces of the 3D object data model in the virtual view.